To Remember
by SkywalkerChild
Summary: Anakin gets to see the twins before he turns...not really AU, but sort of....


DISCLAIMER: George owns all, I'm just playing.  
RATING: G  
Author's note: Okay, I don't consider this AU because, in the end, everything is as it should. It was just a little "what if" I thought up.  
  


To Remember  


He had been training as a Jedi for almost half his life, but Anakin Skywalker still could not grasp the concept of patience. He had been a child constantly in motion; that need for action had followed him into adult hood. Obi Wan would still occasionally lecture him on his adventure cravings. They were stronger than any food desire Amidala had ever had.  
Amidala. Anakin began to pace anew, much to the dismay of Sabe, who was playing secretary for Naboo's queen that day. She had truly hoped he would stop after fifteen minutes.   
The wooden doors to Amidala's office finally opened and she poked her head out, a timid smile on her slightly tanned face.  
"Hold all my calls, Sabe," she said, using her non-regal, innocent tone. "Anakin, please come in."  
The Jedi Knight did as his wife instructed, closing the doors behind him. Amidala was looking out one of the wall-sized windows, her long brown hair falling loosely down her back. For an instant, he was reminded of the first moment that they had met, a lifetime ago.  
"You summoned me, Dala, like I was some kind of lackey. I felt ridiculous waiting outside your office," he said bitterly.  
She didn't turn around, but he felt remorse andanticipation from across the room.  
"I'm sorry, Anakin. Being the queen is not easy, and you knew being married to me would be easy either. But I needed to talk to you." She was still staring out the window, but Anakin knew her brown eyes were focused on nothing, her sight being drawn inward.  
"Well, I'm here, what is it?"  
She finally turned around, her face expressionless.  
"I'm pregnant."  
He looked at his wife with uncertain blue eyes. He felt uneasy and nervous. But he forced a smile because he knew he should be happy.  
"That'swow," was all he could manage to say.  
She crossed the room in an instant and embraced him tightly. He hesitated before hugging her back.  
"I know things have been rocky lately, Anakin. I can't even think of when we might have" Her voice trailed off as she blushed. "But these babies are a gift."  
"Babies?" he asked.  
She looked up at him, nodding. "Twins."  
  
Months flew by like minutes, and Amidala was showing. The queen and her handmaidens had done their bests to disguise the pregnancy, but it was getting to be difficult. Not that Amidala was ashamed of her pregnancy, but she had seen what had happened to other female rulers who became pregnant.  
Anakin, however, was very concerned about the official declaration of her pregnancy. The sense of foreboding that had been following him around for the past six months was getting closer and more intent. The Force was trying to tell him something.  
The queen and her knight were in the doctor's office again, watching the children move around in her womb. The boy was much higher up, so they knew he would be born second. But the girl was lying so low the doctor was afraid the twins would be born months apart.  
"They're healthy, Your Highness," the droid said. "Both are going to be strong children."  
Amidala smiled. "That's good. Isn't that good, Anakin?"  
He shook himself out of his reverie. "It's wonderful, Dala," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "I can't wait to meet them."  
When they got back to the queen's chambers, Amidala sat down on the bed and gestured for her husband to join her. He did so silently, still lost in his own world.  
"What is it, Anakin?"  
Anakin looked his wife over slowly. She was still strikingly beautiful, despite the weight of pregnancy. Her face was only marginally lined with planetary-stress; the rest of the lines he assumed were his own fault  
"Nothing," he said, trying to sound dismissive without being harsh.  
She frowned. It hadn't worked.  
"You've been lost in a daze for months, Anakin. You've been wonderful with me, but you haven't really been here. What does Chancellor Palpatine have you doing on Coruscant?"  
Anakin flinched involuntarily at the name of hisfriend. His wife had been asking a lot of questions about the man who had helped save Naboo and he didn't like it.  
"Palpatine and I are colleagues; we're working together to ensure the legacy of the Jedi is never forgotten. It's very important to him," Anakin explained, choosing his words carefully.  
Amidala looked him over closely and then her face contorted to confusion. She put her hand on her swollen stomach and then picked up one of her husband's hands and did the same.  
"They're moving," she said, smiling.  
Anakin felt with his hands and his heart as his two children moved slowly inside their mother's womb.  
  
Even on the other side of the castle, Anakin could still hear and feel the screams of his labor-pained wife. He'd had to leave the room because of how many emotions she was throwing during her contractions. But space between them didn't seem to be helping any. He felt like a sponge, sucking up every angry or fearful thing she had felt, but refusing to let it go.  
Suddenly, a handmaiden came darting around the corner, almost barreling into him as he paced in front of a window. She mumbled her apology to her queen's husband and then smiled.  
"She's done. They're here."  
Anakin followed behind her, his mind bubbling with happy and sad thoughts. His wife was healthy; his children were healthy. But he couldn't help feeling that this was a last moment for him, that never again would he know this joy.  
The room was much quieter than when he had left it. Amidala slept in the bed they'd made especially for the birthing, and two cradles were on the right side of her bed. Anakin walked up to the cradles and looked inside.  
The boy's eyes were closed when he first walked over, but they flew open when his father walked over. The eyes were as blue as Anakin's, and his hair was the same blonde. The girl had been watching her father the entire time, with chocolate eyes and hair like her mother.  
Hesitantly, Anakin picked up the boy in his arms, supporting his head. The boy's eyes darted around as he tried to take everything in. Anakin found himself smiling.  
"We should name them."  
He turned around to see that his wife was indeed awake, and also smiling. Her face was streaked with tear marks.  
"They do deserve names, don't they?" he asked. With the help of a handmaiden, he carried over both children, giving the girl to her mother. The family sat on the bed for a long moment.  
"Luke," he finally said, still looking at the boy. "My mother had a friend named Luke."  
Amidala smiled. "My mother's name was Leia; shall we call her that?"  
Anakin nodded. "That sounds nice."  
  
As each new piece of metal was put into Anakin's body, he became less himself. He felt the memories of his life before the lava pit seemed to be slipping away into the background, being buried with in his psyche.  
But there was something he had to remember


End file.
